It's something I've become quite inured to. Caricatures and satires and stereotypes of my subculture have been grist for the mill of popular entertainment for
over a century now. During the Carter era, (My mid teens), it became practically
a national obsession.
But there's an important difference between me and the Ravers and
Goths. (I'm not saying the difference is good or bad, just important
to examine.)
I did not choose my subculture, I was born to into it.
Being a Raver or a Goth is *already* a theme, or a skin. A conscious
choice was made, for whatever reason, to join, to become, to add to your
life. My choice, for weal or for woe was made for me before I was
born. Being a Southerner affects the foods I crave, the
music I listened to growing up, how I celebrate holidays, my attitudes
towards life, and much more. I could choose, even at this late point
in my life, to become a Goth; you cannot become a Southerner.
As a popular movement, the Ravers and Goths will, like the flappers,
the beat generation, the hippies, and the punks, be
replaced by another in the course of time. Like those, the new movement
will be an expression of rebellion and non conformity
to the culture of it's time. Most of the current generation will either
join these new movements, or go on to other pursuits. Raves and Goths will become part of their personal nostalgic past. In your teens or
twenties, it may not seem so, it seems more that this movement will last
forever, but history is against you.
Alas, we share that, Ravers and Goths and I. My culture too is dying,
as people move away, and as parents fail to to teach their children their
heritage. In their race to purge themselves of racism and taint, much
that is honorable and noble about my culture is being lost. |
